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April 7, 2008 The Sinlessless of the Lord Jesus Christ
Topic Started: Jun 5 2008, 07:14 PM (171 Views)
lightninboy

April 7, 2008
The Sinlessless of the Lord Jesus Christ

Today I received an email from a Grace in Focus reader who asked me to comment on the sinlessness of Christ. Evidently someone suggested to her that I either I didn’t believe in it, or that I didn’t think it is important.

Let me be clear. The Lord Jesus never sinned and He never will. In fact, He never was and never will be able to sin.

Some people wrongly think that since Jesus was tempted, then He must have been able to give in to temptation. In their view we are just plain lucky that the Lord Jesus failed to sin. If He had, then there would have been no hope for mankind.

Frankly, that is terribly wrong. The Lord Jesus not only didn’t sin, He was incapable of sinning. He was legitimately tempted even though He was unable to sin. That the Lord Jesus found what was offered tempting is clear. That He would not meet Satan’s bogus demands to receive the tempting items is equally clear both in terms of what He said in each of the temptations and in terms of His deity. God cannot sin and cannot give in to temptation.

Only a sinless Man could take away the sin of the world (John 1:29; 2 Cor 5:21). Of course, this is not to say that we must proclaim this to unbelievers in order for them to be born again. Some people are loading up the amount of doctrine that an unbeliever must understand and believer. The Lord Jesus didn’t do that. He called people to believe in Him for everlasting life (John 3:16; 4:1-14; 5:24; 6:35-40, 47; 11:25-27).

Our Savior is the unblemished Lamb of God. Because of that, He is indeed able to give everlasting life to all who simply believe in Him for that life.

Increasing in Him,
Bob_Wilkin
No I will not, No I will not
Not go quietly
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lightninboy

Responses to “The Sinlessless of the Lord Jesus Christ”

1. IndweltDaughter Says:
April 9th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Thank you for writing about this, it’s a great reminder for me to always be pointed back to the very foundations of who my Lord and Savior really is, because it proclaims the glory and extends the magnitude of what it is that He and His Father accomplished for the creation that they love. About a week ago I followed a discussion between two brothers in Christ who disagreed on a certain aspect of the Father’s character, as one was of the opinion that there are people in this world that God hates; that He only loves most - or some - but not all of humankind. This post reminds me of that discussion, simply because believing that God can hate anyone can keep one from embracing an very important part of God’s character. I think that believing Jesus Christ capable of sin is another concept that can create many barriers towards learning what it is God wants us to know about Himself, in order so that He can draw us into closer relationship with Him.

For me, the amazing thing about this truth - that Jesus Christ is incapable of sinning - is the fact that even though that is true, Jesus Christ still relied upon his Father’s strength alone while here on the earth. He is God, He could have dealt with Satan and any temptation on His own without even a struggle. And yet, while on this earth in the form of a man, He chose to give us an example of what sweet fellowship with our Heavenly Father should be like, by completely trusting Him for everything. What amazing sacrifice and love, even before He reached the cross.

It saddens me how hard it can seem for some people - both believers and unbelievers - to accept the depth of God’s love for them. We begin to understand that love when we place our faith in Christ for salvation, and we grow in relationship with God - Father, Son and Spirit - when we continue to grow in understanding of that love.

Even though you didn’t write specifically about love in your post, what you wrote still pointed toward it and it has encouraged me; so thank you.

2. Bob_Wilkin Says:
April 11th, 2008 at 9:36 am
Thanks Indwelt,

Well, the love of God in Christ is the reason why we who believe in Jesus have eternal life, why we choose to follow Him, why we long to please Him, why our aim in life is to have His approval and hear Him say, “Well done, good servant,” and why life makes sense.

The love of God toward us is indeed the reason why the good news is good news!

3. Scott Says:
April 21st, 2008 at 11:39 am
I’m not sure I follow the reasoning here. If Jesus could not have sinned, then in what sense were these temptations? Exactly how is it possible that he can really sympathize with us in our weaknesses if his divinity prevented the possibility of sin? If you are suggesting that because Jesus is God then he could not have sinned during his earthly life, then how could he get tired, hungry, or have to learn and grow in wisdom? God can’t do those things either.

4. Bob_Wilkin Says:
April 24th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Hi Scott,
Good questions and comments.
There is nothing internal within Jesus or any member of the Trinity that can be tempted by evil. See James 1:13, “God cannot be tempted by evil.”
Yet Jesus certainly was tempted by Satan. That doesn’t mean He could have sinned or that something inside His nature was inclined to submit to the temptation. It means that the things being offered were desirable to Jesus, thought the means of fulfilling that desire was not. So, for example, Jesus was hungry and bread sounded very good to Him right then. But the idea of yielding to Satan to get the bread was something Jesus would not and could not do.
Jesus did get tired and hungry in His humanity. He was also localized, that is present in only one place at one time, in His bodily form. Yet since He always has been and always will be God, He was present everywhere in the universe even while He was localized in His body. The same with His fatigue and hunger. In His deity He never was tired or hungry. But in His bodily presence, He was. The same with knowledge. He grew in wisdom and knowledge as a child, yet was all knowing in His deity. I really don’t understand how all that works. I doubt anyone does. But the fact that Jesus was truly human in no way suggests He could sin.
However, all of that means He indeed can truly sympathize with us. He knows about our weaknesses, even though he never did and never could have sinned.
This might help. When we are on the new earth, we not only won’t sin, we won’t be able to sin. Right? See 1 John 3:2 & Rev 21:27. Well, if that will be true of us, fallen humans at this time, then how could we believe anything less of our Savior who never fell? How could He be capable of sinning when we won’t be able to sin once this life is over?

5. dwags4him Says:
April 26th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Two thoughts….

One - Indwelt, you wrote…”About a week ago I followed a discussion between two brothers in Christ who disagreed on a certain aspect of the Father’s character, as one was of the opinion that there are people in this world that God hates; that He only loves most - or some - but not all of humankind.”

I enjoyed the rest of that post, and know that I too have struggled in the past with accepting and understanding God’s forgiveness. But perhaps the point the two gentleman were debating was over the passage in Rom. 9 which seems to clearly outline election as being apart from works….in THAT context it could be rightly said that God “hated Esau, and loved Jacob,” and God’s loving character is in no way diminished. In fact, it is elevated because if God was nothing but love, His love would be worthless. For the same reason the saying exists “If everything is art, than nothing is art.” All throughout the prophets also God is said to hate wicked men. True they might be created in His image, but that does not mean that they are not destined for wrath from eternity past. And, since none but God know who are elect (but those who have His Spirit can know this for themselves), this does not place God in a bind.

I thought that might be what you overheard, but the point you highlighted was very appropriate.

Two - Scott….Might I suggest that the idea that Christ was at His weakest when He was tempted might be mistaken. I posit that Christ, having nourished Himself on God Himself for 40 days would have been incredibly ready to face those temptations. After all, solitude, fasting, prayer, meditation, silence are all disciplines that a Christ-follower needs to partake of to increase his/her reliance on God. I think that Christ was ready for the hardest temptations ever faced not so much because He was God already, but being God, disciplined Himself to seek the face of His Father resolutely….for no one else would have ever been able to turn those temptations down.

It might not be popular, but it would explain the link between Christ’s “aloneness” and His incredible strength against Satan’s wiles.

Just some thoughts
No I will not, No I will not
Not go quietly
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